High-frequency PCBs

Posted:09:44 AM December 10, 2019writer: ​NextPCB

High-frequency (HF) PCBs are a special circuit board with a high electromagnetic frequency; the frequency above 1 GHz can be defined as high frequency. With the increasing demands for high signal transmission speed and quality, high-frequency and high-speed communication products hold out high requirements to high-frequency characteristics of PCBs. For example, a satellite system and mobile telephone receiving base station must use high-frequency PCBs.

Typical requirements in high-frequency PCBs manufacturing

General speaking, Rogers, Teflon, and FR-4 are the most common materials in high-frequency PCB manufacturing. Roger is the favorite dielectric material due to its low DK and DF value, low price, and less signal loss. Teflon is another common material with the frequency of 5GHz. FR-4 is only suitable for the applications requiring 1 GHz to 10 GHz frequency. In terms of DF(dielectric loss), DK (dielectric constant), and water absorption, Teflon is the best, but more expensive than FR-4. The Teflon is the best choice if you need a frequency more than 10GHZ with stable signal and higher quality.

The layout design is the most critical part of high-frequency products. The consideration of thickness of the boards, numbers of layers, signal layers on the board, critical components position, bypassing components position, trace distances, must be comprehensive and appropriate.

Signal communication plays a crucial role in electronic products, but it is challenging to fabricate high-frequency boards with the high-frequency laminates. Especially in substrate materials, there are some basic characteristics requirements, such as small and stable DK, small DF, the same thermal expansive with copper foil, low water absorptivity, and excellent performance of heat resistance, chemistry resistance, impact endurance, peel strength. In short, the substrate material needs to have remarkable properties, good chemical stability, and as the frequency of power signal increases, the loss on the substrate keeps very small.

The benefits of high-frequency PCBs

High efficiency

High-frequency PCBs with low DK leads to low losses. And the advanced induction heating technology can achieve the target heating requirements with high efficiency. While focusing on efficiency, it is also environmentally friendly, which is suitable for the development direction of today’s society.

Fast speed

The smaller the DK is, the faster the transmission speed is. This advantage of high-frequency PCB ensures the characteristics of low DK and stable operation by adopting a unique material, which is very important for signal transmission.

The large degree of regulation

High-frequency PCBs can meet different demands of heat treatment of precision metal material. Not only the heating of varying depth parts can be realized, but also the local characteristics can be heated. It is easy to achieve heating mode, such as surface, deep, concentrated, or decentralized.

Strong tolerance

DK and DF have specific requirements for the environment, especially wet conditions that will affect the use of the board. High-frequency PCBs can challenge such a situation because it is made of shallow water absorption material. At the same time, it also has the advantages of resistant to chemical corrosion, high temperature and moisture resistance, excellent peel strength, which make high-frequency PCBs play a powerful performance.

As a new high-tech PCB, high-frequency PCBs have been widely used in communication and computer fields. There is no doubt that the high-frequency PCB will certainly become more popular in the future. Therefore, the research of high-frequency PCBs is a vital task for PCB manufacturers. NEXTPCB has accumulated rich experiences in PCB prototype and PCB assembly of high-frequency products, welcome to contact the online service to develop your new projects.